He isn't saying that it was a 'bad season' he is saying that he 'hated' this season. I can understand that feeling, as I enjoyed a good portion of the 2010-11 season a lot more than this season. I'm not too down on this season though, but I was protected because I didn't expect much out of the team once February rolled around. Not that I thought they couldn't make it but that I wasn't going to get my hopes up unless the team gave me reason to believe otherwise.

Bingo. Between the kovy nonsense, the goal song nonsense, calling the season ticket holders ticket scalpers nonsense, the marty trade rumor nonsense and the shoot out garbage I've just had enough for one year.

I don't know how you could possibly have "loved" this season. I love the Devils. I love almost everyone who skates for them. This season sucked; it would have been easier if we just weren't very good. The reason I hated this season is what you said- we weren't awful, we were just weren't good enough.

In other words, "I would have been happier if the team was worse." I don't believe that for a second. How could anyone say they'd be happier being way out of the playoff picture than at least having a chance? Was it frustrating to get close and not make it? Sure. But it was a hell of a lot better than having meaningless games from January/February to the end of the season. At least we had meaningful games up to the very last few. The team had sh!t luck all year long and didn't have the talent to make up for it. That's how I'd sum it up. Next year, we make the team a little more talented with some smart moves, we get a little more luck, and I fully believe that we can get back to the playoffs.

Maybe it's a semantics issue, but I could just never say "I hated this season". I love my team and even if they stunk up the ice all year I'd be happy to watch them and I'd enjoy myself. They did a lot better than stink it up, they just didn't quite make it where we wanted them to.

In other words, "I would have been happier if the team was worse." I don't believe that for a second. How could anyone say they'd be happier being way out of the playoff picture than at least having a chance? Was it frustrating to get close and not make it? Sure. But it was a hell of a lot better than having meaningless games from January/February to the end of the season. At least we had meaningful games up to the very last few. The team had sh!t luck all year long and didn't have the talent to make up for it. That's how I'd sum it up. Next year, we make the team a little more talented with some smart moves, we get a little more luck, and I fully believe that we can get back to the playoffs.

Maybe it's a semantics issue, but I could just never say "I hated this season". I love my team and even if they stunk up the ice all year I'd be happy to watch them and I'd enjoy myself. They did a lot better than stink it up, they just didn't quite make it where we wanted them to.

How can you not understand that, it's easy? Being a Niners fan these past 4 years has been way more frustrating and difficult than in the 6 years prior in which we sucked. Sure, during the season you don't hope that they are worse than they are but if the team constantly raises your hopes only to falter, the experience can be excruciating. Again, you should be able to figure that out.

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of No OneProud to be King of the Kovalnuts (Est. June 2010 by MantaRay)

"I am not an AH like you, he board is discussed with you/, good ;luck, AH" -BostonNala370

To say we weren't a good team is simply wrong if you look at it from an analytic's point of view. I won't even have to use fancy stats either. The Devils are in the upper half of the league in several categories. Many of those, they're top ten.

But I'll start by pointing out categories where we're low in the rankings (bottom 10).

Goals per game: 2.40 (27th) - Minnesota and LA average 2.42 goals per game and they're both in the playoffs. So we may not have scored a lot, we scored enough.

5 on 5 GF/GA ratio: 0.92 (21st) - To put this into perspective, we were a 0.93 in 2012 where we went to the Finals.

Shots per game: 26.8 (28th) - Minnesota averaged fewer shots per game than we did. Also shots are kind of unreliable as they're not counted consistently and varies arena to arena.

Trail 1st WPCT: .132 (30th)- This is more a mental thing. The Devils were also very good with the goalie pulled so this stat doesn't mean much to me.

Faceoffs: 47% (27th) - Definitely a problem, but it still shouldn't kill the team. The Devils haven't been good at faceoffs for a while.

Categories where we're high in the rankings (top 10).

Goals allowed per game: 2.38 (7th) - We were actually top 5 up until the Olympic break.

Power Play: 19.5% (9th) - This is why Gelinas should have been up all year.

I enjoyed seeing the players give Marty his moment. That was a nice touch. Whatever your thoughts are, without Brodeur there are no Jersey Devils. He is the man. Even in the twilight, he dug deep and outplayed Hank to get them there one final time. In a year they were viewed as an afterthought. Brodeur is one of those special athletes that comes around once in a lifetime. He is a living legend. If he doesn't want to go out the way Rivera and Jeter are, that's his choice. Even with his commentary, the man is one thing. A winner. Even I know. Marty's Better.

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"The greatest trick Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

Hasan, Brian and I blog at New York Puck. Devils, Islanders, Rangers and Sabres.

I enjoyed seeing the players give Marty his moment. That was a nice touch. Whatever your thoughts are, without Brodeur there are no Jersey Devils. He is the man. Even in the twilight, he dug deep and outplayed Hank to get them there one final time. In a year they were viewed as an afterthought. Brodeur is one of those special athletes that comes around once in a lifetime. He is a living legend. If he doesn't want to go out the way Rivera and Jeter are, that's his choice. Even with his commentary, the man is one thing. A winner. Even I know. Marty's Better.

How difficult was it for YOU to write that? Very well said, Derek.

As happy as I am to see the torch passed to Cory (hopefully for more than one season), it was great to watch Brodeur with his distinct style one more time, today. The beautiful puck handling The skate save on the breakaway. The standing glove save. He played the position differently. I'll miss that next season.

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"The Stanley Cup has fallen from the Stars. The new millennium has its first Stanley Cup Champion, and it's the New Jersey Devils." Mike Miller calling the Devils winning the Stanley Cup.

"It goes to the captain and then there are handoffs during a skate around the ice" Mike Emrick as Scott Stevens is being presented the Stanley Cup.

As happy as I am to see the torch passed to Cory (hopefully for more than one season), it was great to watch Brodeur with his distinct style one more time, today. The beautiful puck handling The skate save on the breakaway. The standing glove save. He played the position differently. I'll miss that next season.

Not difficult at all dr. I devoted an entire tribute post on the blog to him. Marty deserved that send off. I'm really glad the fans treated him to one last memorable moment full of chants we've come to appreciate. Even I was a bit sad watching the end game interview. Hope he retires.

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"The greatest trick Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

Hasan, Brian and I blog at New York Puck. Devils, Islanders, Rangers and Sabres.

As happy as I am to see the torch passed to Cory (hopefully for more than one season), it was great to watch Brodeur with his distinct style one more time, today. The beautiful puck handling The skate save on the breakaway. The standing glove save. He played the position differently. I'll miss that next season.

Brodeur's style was a treat to watch for sure. Unfortunately, it's not conducive to the deflection style offense teams use today. It's a great style for one on one shots between shooter and goalie. However with screens and deflections, it's not. Brodeur's style is all about reflexes. How can you react to a shot when you can't see the puck? You can't that's why he wasn't great with deflections. Butterfly goalies are all about blocking the puck, and being in position.

I have to say, it was a really fun afternoon at the Rock and it was nice to end with a win, even if it was against the Bruins' B-squad. I'm watching the postgame on the DVR now. Its such a weird day though. No more Chico, Marty playing most likely his last game as a Devil... I just feel kind of empty inside about it right now. Its just strange and hard to process. Its a sad day for this franchise.

Had a great time at the game. I've been very critical of Marty this year and whatnot, but today I put that all on the backburner and was glad the crowd did the same. Hell, I even wore my Marty t-shirt to the game for the first time in a few years and it finally saw it's first win haha. Glad Marty got the send-off he deserved and got a win to boot. I was proud to be there in person to salute the man who made me a fan of this team and more importantly, KEPT me a fan of this team by being the GOAT.

Definitely happy this season and it's ups and downs are behind us now.. It was a frustrating year. Plenty of positives to take away though, and I think next year might be a great one if necessary moves and acquisitions are made. I'm excited to see what Lou has planned for this offseason.

How can you not understand that, it's easy? Being a Niners fan these past 4 years has been way more frustrating and difficult than in the 6 years prior in which we sucked. Sure, during the season you don't hope that they are worse than they are but if the team constantly raises your hopes only to falter, the experience can be excruciating. Again, you should be able to figure that out.

Why do you have to post that in such a condescending way, as if my opinion is completely idiotic? Can't I disagree with you and not be a moron? Can't other people feel differently than you and still be intellectual?

For me, I would much rather have hopes that are not met than to not have any reason to have any hopes at all. When the Devils were mired in their terrible start under MacLean, I could barely stand to watch the games at all. There were nights where I knew the Devils had a game and I just chose to do something else besides watch their pathetic effort. Usually if there is a Devils game I look forward to it all day long and don't miss a second of it. This season I watched and enjoyed almost every single game to the end of the season, even though I was disappointed in coming up short many nights. Rarely did I feel that the Devils failed to show up or got blown out in embarrassing fashion. Being close is way better to me than not being close at all. I wouldn't feel nearly as emotionally invested in the game if I knew that the outcome of the season was already a foregone conclusion.

Glad he got the much deserved appreciation, but i still feel if he would have done the smart thing and announced his retirement the scene would have been much much more emotional and memorable. He deserved the royal treatment that comes with a living legend retiring, not trying to hang on.

I agree, and the quasi not final? game dimmed it a little bit for me being completely into an emotional farewell. I still got a little choked up in the end though. Thanks to the crowd for saluting Marty at every chance.

Glad he got the much deserved appreciation, but i still feel if he would have done the smart thing and announced his retirement the scene would have been much much more emotional and memorable. He deserved the royal treatment that comes with a living legend retiring, not trying to hang on.

You are right, but today still could have been a more special day if the team wanted to do something, regardless of not having an official decision.

Hard to compare Gretzky to Brodeur, but I vividly remember Wayne's final game in Ottawa before he made it public that he was retiring. There were rumours of it, and the Senators posted a video during a commercial timeout that led to a 5-6 minute standing ovation delay. Maybe, that's all that was needed at today's game. Same goes for Modano's last game in Dallas when he still wanted to play. A simple video could have taken it to the next level.

Edited by devilsrule33, 13 April 2014 - 08:38 PM.

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"The Stanley Cup has fallen from the Stars. The new millennium has its first Stanley Cup Champion, and it's the New Jersey Devils." Mike Miller calling the Devils winning the Stanley Cup.

"It goes to the captain and then there are handoffs during a skate around the ice" Mike Emrick as Scott Stevens is being presented the Stanley Cup.

Glad he got the much deserved appreciation, but i still feel if he would have done the smart thing and announced his retirement the scene would have been much much more emotional and memorable. He deserved the royal treatment that comes with a living legend retiring, not trying to hang on.

Agree. I've been rough on Brodeur all year and I'm glad the season is over because it just didn't feel right.I really hope Marty is done now, he's a living legend and I want to remember him at his best.